Braham, David
Braham, David
Braham, David, English composer and conductor; b. near London, 1834; d. N.Y., April 11, 1905. He learned to play the violin in his youth and began his career playing in London music halls. In 1856 he settled in N.Y., where he played in orchs. and began to compose songs and theater pieces. He worked as musical director for several theaters, including the Theatre Comique from 1865, where he had his first success as a composer with the burlesque Pluto (Feb. 1, 1868). In 1872 he began composing scores to lyrics by Edward Harrigan, who was to become his son-in-law. He served as musical director of the Harrigan and Hart team until the duo broke up in 1885, and he continued to work with Harrigan for some more years until devoting his remaining years to the Grand Opera House and Wallack’s Theater. Among his most famous songs for the Harrigan and Hart team were “The Mulligan Guards” (1874), “The Regular Army O! (1874), “Slavery Days” (1876), “The Babies on Our Block” (1879), “Hang the Mulligan Banner Up” (1880), “The Mulligan Braves” (1880), “Paddy Duffy’s Cart” (1881), “Just Across from Jersey” (1883), and “Poverty’s Tears Ebb and Flow” (1885). In all, he had some 200 songs publ.
—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire